Employee put on leave for locking Quinsigamond State Park

Friday

Apr 12, 2013 at 6:00 AM

The state Department of Conservation and Recreation said an employee has been put on paid administrative leave and will be the subject of a disciplinary hearing after the city’s high school crew team was locked in Quinsigamond State Park Tuesday.

The agency also issued an apology.

“On behalf of DCR, I would like to publicly apologize to the parents, students and administrators who were inconvenienced at Lake Quinsigamond on Tuesday evening. We wish everyone to know that we take this matter seriously,” said Jack Murray, DCR’s deputy commissioner of park operations.

The park closes at 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday’s practice ran late. When parents tried to exit at 5:38 p.m., the gate was locked.

Reginald Zimmerman, a DCR spokeswoman, said DCR officials plan to keep the park open to 8 p.m. starting April 21. The 8 p.m. closing time normally doesn’t occur until early May, he said.